


When She's Ten Feet Tall

by ladysorka



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen, Post-Series, those wacky Ancients
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-05
Updated: 2016-12-05
Packaged: 2018-09-06 16:45:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8761015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladysorka/pseuds/ladysorka
Summary: Jeannie gets a summer job.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I was going through old fic snippet folders and found this. It's complete and was even already titled, so I don't know why I never posted it. I think I wrote it for a challenge, decided I hated it, and wrote something else instead, but reading through it it's not that bad. A bit rushed, maybe.
> 
> So here, have an old Jeannie-centric thing.

"I can't believe I'm starting a job where I have to wear a uniform." Jeannie stared at herself in the mirror. The jacket and matching pants did not flatter her at all. She sighed and went downstairs.

Kaleb didn't look up when she entered the kitchen. "No, you can't have a donut for breakfast. We don't have any. You can have a muffin."

"Emma always has donuts." Madison crossed her arms and glared.

"Then maybe you should to go Emma's for breakfast," Jeannie said, pouring herself a cup of coffee.

Madison turned around. "Mom, you look weird."

"I have to wear this for my new job. Your Uncle Mer has one just like it," Jeannie told her.

Madison wrinkled her nose. "It's ugly."

Kaleb grinned. "She's right, honey. It is pretty ugly."

Jeannie rolled her eyes. There was a knock on the door, and she set her coffee down. "I will get you later," she said, pointing at Kaleb.

She walked to the front door and opened it, frowning at the empty stoop. The knock came again. She shut the door and walked to the back of the house and opened the sliding door. "John. You couldn't have come to the front?"

John shrugged. "Your ride's parked on the patio."

Jeannie blinked at the seemingly empty patio. "...right. Do you want to come in? Have some coffee or a muffin?" She didn't wait for a reply and waved him in, shutting the door. "I wasn't expecting to see you this morning."

"I couldn't let just anyone pick you up on your first day," John said, following her. "Besides, I can't wait to see Rodney's face."

Jeannie shook her head, not at all surprised. "He still doesn't know, does he."

John smirked. "Nope. Radek does all the actual hiring. Rodney just signs things without reading them. It'll be a surprise!"

"John," Kaleb said, coolly.

John inclined his head in Kaleb's direction and leaned against the wall. "Kaleb." He turned his head and smiled lightly. "Hey, Mad."

"Your uniform is ugly too," Madison said.

"But I make it look cool." John waggled his eyebrows at her and she giggled.

Jeannie smiled and shook her head. "You have everything ready for school, Mad?"

Madison nodded. "My bag's packed and Dad helped me make lunch." Madison leaned in. "He let me have _two_ cookies."

"One of them is for Emma, Mad, remember?" Kaleb winked.

"Right!" Madison grinned.

Jeannie laughed. "She'd better enjoy it. Those are your dad's special cookies. Now, good luck on your math test..."

"Math's _easy_ , Mom," Madison broke in.

"...and don't gloat too much if you're the first person done. Ms. Patterson wasn't very happy last time," Jeannie finished. John choked back a laugh and Jeannie glared in his direction. "And remember, you can't tell anyone..."

"...that your new job is working on an alien spaceship, I know. Not even Ryan, even if it would top his dad being on tv." Madison kicked the island and pouted.

"Not even Ryan. Someday, Mad, I promise," Jeannie said solemnly. She leaned down and kissed Madison on the forehead. "I'll see you tonight, okay?"

"Have fun with the aliens," Madison replied, just as solemnly.

Jeannie walked over to Kaleb. "You'll be fine?" she asked quietly.

Kaleb rolled his eyes. "We'll be just fine and I'll get some writing done while Mad's at school. Go. Have fun with aliens."

"Time to get this show on the road," John said and grabbed a muffin. "Bye, Mad."

Madison blew them a kiss as they walked out.

"You told _Madison_?" John whispered as they walked to the invisible spaceship parked in the backyard.

Jeannie shrugged sheepishly. "It kind of slipped out? She's eight. No one would believe her anyway."

John shook his head and closed the hatch of the puddlejumper behind them.

***

Jeannie's breath caught as the puddlejumper went broke through the cloak. Atlantis suddenly appeared from nothing, its towers gleaming in the morning sun. It was gorgeous. "Are you using a lot of power hiding the city?" Jeannie asked absently, distracted by the sun sparkling on the stained glass.

John shrugged and flew them to the top of the highest tower, lowering the puddlejumper through the roof. "Not really."

Jeannie waited but John didn't say anything more. She shook her head and stood as he gently settled the ship on the bay floor. "Thanks for the ride."

"Hey, anytime. Not like I have much else to do, these days," John said. 

Jeannie looked at him. "Not liking life on Earth?"

"I'll be happier when we're back in Pegasus." John's voice was firm.

Jeannie nodded and smiled sympathetically. "You miss them." Teyla and Ronon had left for Pegasus weeks ago.

John just looked at her, then turned and walked out of the jumper. She winced. That might've been a bit too much.

"Sheppard!" Mer's voice called from outside the ship. "I am not at your beck and call when you're bored and want to go joyriding!"

"Relax, Rodney," John drawled. "If I wanted to go joyriding, I wouldn't call you."

"Oh, good. Wait, why not?" Mer asked. 

Jeannie made her way to the hatch and stepped out. Mer didn't notice her.

"You kind of ruin it," John said.

"What? I do not! I am an excellent... Jeannie?" Mer blinked at her.

Jeannie held up a hand. "Hey, Mer."

"Why are you here?" Mer looked at her, confused. "...why are you wearing an Atlantis uniform?"

"That's why I called you, Rodney," John said, smirking. "Had to introduce you to your newest employee."

"...employee?"

"I got a summer job!" Jeannie said cheerfully and waited for the explosion. Meredith gaped at her.

"A summer job?" He turned to John. "Is this some sort of prank?"

John clapped him on the back. "No prank, buddy. Maybe you should read the stuff Radek sends you before you sign it next time." He nodded at Jeannie and started walking out of the jumper bay. "I'll catch up with you kids later."

Meredith stared. "You got a _summer job_? Here? Whatever happened to staying at home?"

"Mad's in school full time now, Mer, and Kaleb's working at home. It was just the right time."

Mer blinked at her. "The right time?"

Jeannie rolled her eyes. "Yes, Mer. The right time. Now, are we going to work or what?"

Mer just kept staring, eyes wide, and Jeannie pushed him out the door.

***

Jeannie followed Meredith to a part of the city she'd never seen before. There were almost no people around, and the silence was unnerving. "Where are we going?"

"Mmm, we've been exploring parts of the city we never had time to before, or deemed interesting but less important." Mer smiled wryly. "It's easier to do when we're not on the front lines."

"So... where are we going?" Jeannie asked, poking Mer in the arm.

Mer swatted her hand and pointed to a door. "Here."

Jeannie walked in and stared. In the center of the room was a large console, but what drew her eyes were the little round knobs on the walls. They were evenly spaced in a single line that circled the room at roughly waist height. She'd never seen a design element like it in Atlantis before. Not that she'd ever had the time to go exploring on her previous visits to the city, so maybe there were lots of rooms decorated with tiny doorknobs.

"Ah, Jeannie!" Radek stood and smiled.

Jeannie smiled back. "Hey. What are you guys doing?"

"We are attempting to restore power to this console. It does not draw power from the ZPM and we are having problems connecting a generator to it." Radek gestured to the small generator sitting on the floor.

"You mean you're having problems connecting a generator to it," Meredith said. "I'm trying to find out how it was actually powered."

Radek looked at Jeannie and rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, you do that."

"Any idea what this room was for?" Jeannie asked, her eyes still drawn to the knobs.

"We _think_ that this room was some sort of knowledge storage center kept separate from the database," Mer said, kneeling and taking a panel off the front of the console.

"Once it is powered on, I would like you to look at it. You are better with code than either of us," Radek said, gesturing at the computer.

"Oh, she is not." Meredith shot them a glare.

Jeannie hit him lightly with her foot. "Oh, I really am. I can run circles around you on a computer and you know it."

"She can," Radek agreed.

"I hate you both."

"I can tell," Jeannie said absently. She walked to the wall, staring at the knobs. There was something about them. "What's with the knobs on the wall?"

Mer turned at looked at her. "Decoration."

Jeannie could hear the implied "moron", but she shook her head. "I really don't think they are." She reached out to touch one. 

She barely heard Radek shout "don't!" when the world dissolved around her.

"Oh, crap," Jeannie breathed quietly. She was standing in front of an open doorway that looked nothing like where she been. She reached up and hit the radio she'd been issued with her uniform. "Hello? Mer? Radek? Colonel Sheppard? Can anyone hear me?" She waited a moment, but there was no response.

Jeannie turned around away from the door and sucked in a breath. She was standing on a what looked like an almost infinite floor that seemed to have no walls but the one directly behind her. Suddenly it shook and she fell, catching herself on her hands. The shaking continued and she heard a loud booming noise. A huge black shape landed in front of her with a crash and she scrambled backwards into the wall.

She stared at it. It looked... oddly familiar. She watched in fascination as it lifted off the ground, turned, and landed with another crash, followed by a second thump. She swallowed, recognizing it, and looked up, and up, and up. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. She peeked through one eye. It was still there. Huge, black, and dangerous. Meredith's shoe.

"Oh, _crap_." Jeannie swallowed. She had to think. Mer couldn't see her or hear her. He wouldn't touch the knobs after her, not if he had any sense. Odds were good they'd think she'd just vanished. That she'd been shrunk wasn't the first conclusion anyone would come to. There was only one thing she could do.

She shakily stood up and walked through the open doorway.

***

The hallway seemed to go on forever. It was somehow completely clear of dust and insects, which she appreciated. The walls were covered in paintings and murals that seemed to be telling the story of a war. Not the war with the Wraith, she could tell that much. Possibly with the Ori? She'd never paid too much attention to that part of the SGC history briefings, and she was regretting it now.

The hall was sloped downwards. Jeannie thought she was underneath the room where she'd started, though she couldn't be sure. The further down she got, the more violent the murals became. They were full of death, most of which seemed to be caused by people turning into beings made of energy. It made no sense. Everything she knew about Ancient culture said their only goal was Ascension, but the murals seemed to be telling a story about how Ascension was evil.

Jeannie had no idea how long she'd been walking. The walls were almost completely black now and even Jeannie could read the symbolism in that. Death. Nothing but death. She wanted to turn back, but she knew the hallway had to lead somewhere.

Finally in the distance, she saw a bright pinprick of white. She broke into a run, wanting to leave the blackness as quickly as she could. She burst through the doorway and stopped in shock. She was standing in a giant circular white room, with hallways coming in like spokes of a wheel. There was probably one for every knob. On the floor of the room were hundreds of stasis pods and nearly every one of them was full.

Jeannie walked to the nearest one and peered inside. The man (Ancient, she told herself, these were Ancients), looked to be close to 100 years old. So did the woman in the pod next to him, and the woman next to her. These people were probably all still alive, but if you took them out of stasis they wouldn't stay that way for long. It was eerie, like walking through a living graveyard.

Jeannie reached the center of the room and just stood and looked. She had no idea what this place was, but she did not want to be here.

"Welcome, Denier!"

Jeannie jumped and whipped around, wishing she had something she could use as a weapon. A man stood there, wearing the ugliest white shirt Jeannie had ever seen. He was smiling.

"Hello?" Jeannie said, uncertainly.

"Welcome! I am preparing a pod for you as we speak." The man kept smiling.

Jeannie backed up and ran into one of the stasis pods. "No thanks. I'll pass on the whole pod thing."

"How else will you reach the days of true knowledge?" The smile was getting seriously unnerving.

Jeannie didn't want to know, she really didn't. "...true knowledge?"

"When all those who believe the lie of Ascension have been destroyed and we will be free to live as we choose," the man said, smile never wavering. Hologram, had to be. "You have entered the Room of Disbelief and walked the Paths of Truth. Your future awaits you."

"I'm really not interested." Jeannie walked around the hologram, trying to see where it was projected from.

"Have you not heard the tales, told only in whispers for the Council fears the Truth? Have you not seen the destruction Ascension causes with your own eyes? Have you not seen the desire destroy your friends and family? Have you not realized it will be the end of us all?"

Jeannie stared at the hologram. "...the Ancients have been dead for thousands of years. Aren't you connected to the main database?"

The hologram flickered. "I am on an independent server designed only to serve the Deniers, hidden to protect them from the Council. If what you say is true, I must be glad, for it is time to deploy the Truth and awaken my charges."

"Your charges are all so old that if you wake them, they'll die." Jeannie looked out over the hundreds of stasis pods. These were all people who went to sleep thinking they'd wake up one day soon and live in a new utopia, and instead went willingly to their own death. She shuddered. "And what do you mean, deploy the Truth?"

The hologram cocked his head. "It will destroy those who speak of the lies of Ascension."

Jeannie felt cold. "Destroy how, exactly?"

"They will die. You will be safe here, do not leave." The hologram winked out.

"No! Come back!" Jeannie waited for a moment, but the hologram didn't return. She had to find a way out. She stared at the hallways coming into the room. They were paired in groups of two. One of them had to be the exit.

***

Jeannie pounded up the incline, her breathing hard. She was not in good enough shape to be doing this, not by a long shot, but she didn't have any choice. The murals on the walls were more positive now, showing children and nature, but Jeannie barely registered them. She had no idea how much time she had.

After what felt like ages, she ran around the corner to the doorway and skidded through. She promptly backed tight against the wall. There were more shoes, now. She turned around, hoping, and spotted a little knob right next to the door. She reached out, grabbed it, and stumbled into John.

"Whoa, Jeannie, I didn't see you there." He did a double take. "Jeannie?"

"The console," Jeannie said, out of breath, "it's some kind of bomb."

Radek nodded grimly. "We know."

Meredith grabbed her arm. "Are you okay?"

Jeannie shook him off. "I'm fine, Mer. Can we please deal with the bomb?"

Mer flushed and turned back to the console. "Right. Yes. When you, ah, entered the room of crazy, the console switched on and then it started building up power."

Jeannie stared at him. "...how did you know about the room?"

John waved towards the console. "It showed us your whole conversation. They weren't the brightest bunch."

Jeannie walked over and peered at Mer's laptop screen. The console's charge was steadily climbing, but it didn't seem like it was charging enough to explode. "Are these numbers right?"

"Of course they are." Meredith glared at her.

Jeannie frowned at them. "They don't look like it's getting ready to explode."

"I do not think it is," Radek said slowly. "I think it is a very primitive version of the Sangraal."

"The thing that killed the Ori?" John asked, frowning.

Radek nodded.

"So this is designed to kill Ancients?" Jeannie stared at it. It didn't look like a magical energy-being destroyer.

"If it was, it's not going to work," Mer said, pointing at the screen. "It's not going to reach near enough power. The crystal configuration in this thing just can't take it."

"Then what's it going to do, McKay?" John looked at the console warily.

"If I had to guess?" Mer jumped back as the console suddenly started sparking.

"That, apparently," Jeannie said quietly. They watched as the console spluttered and died.

"Well then," John said after a moment. "That was easy."

"A little too easy," Mer agreed. 

"You still have all those tiny Ancients on ice," Jeannie said, pointing at the floor. They all stared at it.

"You know what? We're on Earth. Make Daniel Jackson deal with it," Mer decided.

***

Jeannie walked in the back door and threw her jacket on a chair. "I'm home!"

Madison came running into the room. "Mom! I finished first on my math test again!"

Jeannie smiled at her. "Good job! Did you gloat?"

"Only a little," Madison said, ducking her head.

"I've already talked to her about it." Kaleb ruffled Madison's hair. "Haven't I, Mad?"

Madison nodded.

"How was your first day? Anything exciting happen?" Kaleb asked.

Jeannie thought about it. "Not really. So, what are we doing for dinner?"


End file.
